Great strides are being made in various areas of human surgery through the use of electronics and mechanical engineering principles. One such area is in endoscopic surgery or what is also called video surgery. The technique employs an external miniaturized video camera attached by fiber optic tubes to a light source and a telescopic lens, both of which are inserted as a unit through a small incision made in a patient's body. The camera projects a picture taken within the body and illuminated by the light source onto a video screen. Other surgical instruments such as scalpels, retractors and the like, which are specially designed for endoscopic surgery, are inserted through separate incisions in the patient.
The surgeon does not view the operative field per se, but rather views the picture on the video screen while performing surgery.
While the technique is referred to generically as endoscopic or video surgery, the equipment lends itself to a number of specific types of surgeries: anthroscopic (joints), angioscopic (blood vessels), laparoscopic (the abdomen), and thoracoscopic (the chest).
The benefits derived from this type of surgery are startling. The process, in some forms, is almost bloodless. Large ugly scars are eliminated. The process is much less traumatic and painful to the patient than open surgery. The patient leaves the hospital in a few days, and often the same day, as with some arthroscopic procedures.
One problem exists, however, in the use of modern endoscopic equipment: the location and alignment of the instruments relative to the surgical field are critical. The viewing lens and the light source must be maintained in a fixed, aligned position relative to the field. A fiber optic cable or rod inserted in a small incision through the skin and muscle is prone to misalignment and withdrawal unless it is held in place by a surgical assistant. This is not only tiring to the assistant if the surgical procedure is lengthy, but not totally satisfactory, since maintaining steadiness over lengthy periods is extremely difficult. Also the presence of the assistant and his hands in close proximity to where the surgeon is actually manipulating instruments can be bothersome to the surgeon.
Attempts to remedy the problem have been made by the provision of hollow guides which are inserted into the incision and through which the fiber optic rod or cable is passed. This is not totally satisfactory since the guides are prone to slip out of the incision requiring reinsertion and realignment.
It is to this problem that the present invention is directed.